


Among the Trees

by SunHater



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Horror, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 14:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21393763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunHater/pseuds/SunHater
Summary: Kris and Asriel explore the woods next to their house.Something sinister lurks within.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Among the Trees

The soft, ever fluctuating tones of chirping birds leaked into Asriel's window, along with the quiet Saturday breeze and morning light that woke him. He groggily rubbed his eyes before letting them flutter open to the sight of his glow in the dark moon and star stickers, now dull in the light of the sun. He sat upward in his bed, glancing across the room to Kris' vacant bed. Confused, he directed his gaze to the digital clock that sat upon his nightstand. It's front most face read “9:45” in bright red numbers. Asriel rolled his eyes and sighed with a smile on his face. Of course. The night before, he had asked Kris to wake him up when he awakened, but he never did. He either forgot, or would feel bad for disturbing his sleep. It wasn't as if he blamed him, especially after the day he had yesterday. Anyone's post birthday morning would leave a kid his age forgetful, he reasoned. Slipping out of his pyjamas and into a yellow striped shirt and blue jeans, Asriel left the room and stepped into the hallway, walking with excitement to the stairs. He hoped that his plans with Kris for the day didn't slip his mind as well.

Yesterday, along with the other presents he received from multiple different places, Kris had opened a present from Toriel labelled “For my two special boys”. Inside was a pair of brown and black walkie talkies, radios with big antennas that stuck out of the top that Kris and Asriel could use to communicate from anywhere in town. Though they were small and relatively lightweight, they could broadcast from at least a couple dozen miles apart. After opening the present, Kris and Asriel spent the rest of the evening inside the house, playing hide and seek with the little radios. Asriel would give Kris little hints as to where he was hiding, and Kris would yell into the radio, giving away Asriel's position almost instantly due to the volume. Asriel was quick to call this cheating, of course, and very much against the rules. There was a problem, though. The house was more than enough to accommodate their usual needs, but this newfound activity required a much larger area to play in. Once they had used up all of the hiding places, the two children soon confronted Toriel, asking if they could go out in the woods instead.

By this time the sun was close being set completely, and with the season of fall creeping in, the nights were coming sooner with each passing day, cutting the daylight hours shorter and shorter. Toriel had completely denied this request outright due to the time, but upon seeing her children's disappointed looks, quickly gave in. If, with an exception. Figuring they were of the age where they should be given some slack and be allowed to explore, and though Asriel was older, going into the woods alone had always been forbidden by Toriel. Even if it wasn't, he surely would have felt bad leaving his younger brother alone while he went out with older kids. Toriel met their request halfway. The two could spend as long as they wanted in the woods tomorrow morning and afternoon, but they had to be back by six o'clock at the latest. Any later, and they would be grounded.

The intimidation they felt from the possibility of being grounded was snuffed out by their overwhelming excitement, audibly exclaiming their gratitude and simultaneously hugging their mother before going off to their rooms. It warmed Toriel's heart to see them as happy as they were, and in her mind, she had surely made the right choice. Before bed time, which was generously extended an hour by Toriel, she took the walkie talkies from Kris and Asriel until the morning, to ensure no shenanigans would be had in the late hours of the night. Though their excitement was through the roof, they fell asleep rather quickly due to the long and taxing day they had. But today was a new day. Today was the day Asriel was finally able to explore the woods with his brother. And he couldn't have been be more excited.

After meeting up with Kris, dressed in black sweatpants and his favourite yellow striped, green shirt, the two sat down at the dinner table and discussed what they'd do in the woods. Hide and seek was an obvious choice, but Kris had brought up the concept of building things out of sticks, making a small fort, and having fake sword fights with sticks. Kris made sure to say that last one extra quietly. Toriel hummed happily as she made her kids two servings of bacon and eggs, and their nostrils filled with the intoxicating scent of the breakfast soon to be served. The breakfast was finished rather quickly, them both finishing their respective meals in under ten minutes. Toriel wasn't surprised, though she did caution them about the dangers of eating too fast. Stomach aches and such.

It mostly flew over their young, preoccupied minds, and they quickly requested their radios. Toriel told them to wait downstairs and slowly ascended up the stairs. The siblings waited with bated breath until their parent came back down with a walkie talkie in each of her hands, along with a digital watch to match each. She handed them to each child, looking at the radios with incredible excitement. Such simple devices brought them so much joy. They quickly ran off with their devices in hand, slipping on their shoes and watches gleefully, and were mere steps from the front door before Toriel relayed one last message to them.

“Remember, children! Six o'clock on the dot! And check up at one o'clock for lunch! Oh, and keep together, hold hands if you must, just don't lose sight of each other! And watch out for the road out of town, too, don't cross it!” Toriel excessively warned.  
“We know mom!” Asriel assured. Toriel walked over to her kids, smiling from how mature and grown up they were. She got on her knees and motioned for them to come closer with her arms outstretched, hugging both of them tightly.  
“I love you, boys. Please stay safe.”  
The brothers patted her on the back reassuringly, and with that they were out the door, and into the soft Saturday sun.

The two boys looked over Hometown from the hill their house stood on, making it a great vantage point. The town, however, was the least of their concerns. Asriel, as instructed, grasped Kris' hand in his own, looking down and smiling at him. Kris smiled back, albeit a little shyly. They turned west and looked into the semi thick forest in front of them, trees stretching both upwards far beyond reach, and forwards far past their line of sight. Asriel didn't want to show it, but he was feeling quite daunted. The first time exploring this place was going to be strange, for sure. However, Asriel decided that even if something scared you, you needed to press on. Besides, there could be any number of cool things in there, just waiting to be found by him and his brother. Asriel took a step forward, but felt his arm tug on him from behind. He looked behind him in confusion to see Kris, still gazing into the forest in an almost trance like state, gripping Asriel's hand unnecessarily strongly.

“Uhm... Kris? What's wrong?” Asriel inquired. Kris looked to the floor in embarrassment, his smile fading away.  
“I-I don't wanna play hide and seek in there...”  
“Why's that?”  
“I-It's scary... W-What if I get lost?”  
“We have walkie talkies, remember? I can find you.”  
“B-But what if someone gets to me before I can tell you where I am?”  
Asriel sighed.  
“Well, tell you what. We won't play hide n' seek this time. We'll just explore a bit, get used to the place, then another day we can play, alright?”  
“You aren't mad?”  
“Heh, of course not Kris! It's okay to be scared, just hold onto my hand and everything will be alright, okay?”

The shy, delicate smile Kris once had returned to his face.  
“Okay.” He said with determination.  
“Great! Then we're off! To adventure!” Asriel exclaimed, the two kids walking happily into the forest, hands firmly held.

The light only got a little more dim as the leaves blocked out some of the sun. Regardless, they could survey the area easily. Though there wasn't much of note in particular, the tall trees around them went on for miles in each direction. To the south was the road out of town, which separated the forest into two different sections, and eastward would only lead them back to the house. With nowhere to explore but west, Asriel continued in this direction, weaving between trees. The light of the sun danced on the brown forest floor, the mild wind shaking the leaves to produce a somewhat glittery effect. Asriel looked upward at the orange and red leaves above. The encroaching season of autumn meant a few leaves were sent falling to the floor, which crunched satisfyingly beneath the kids' feet. There were still more than enough leaves to blot out at least a little bit of the sun, however.

Asriel took out his walkie talkie and turned it on, even though he was within arm's length of his brother. Kris looked at him strangely, but played along. Asriel had hoped that some playing pretend might help soothe his nerves. They role played as medieval knights, on their quest to find a princess that had been dragged into the woods by trolls. They even stopped at one point and fought a bunch of imaginary enemies, using stray branches as make-believe swords. Enraptured by their imaginations, they spent much time fighting off hordes of imaginary beings until they slumped against a tree together, laughing softly and panting from the strangely taxing play time. Asriel knew he was a little old to be playing these sorts of games, but if it made his brother happy, he was happy to do it. They got up once their rest had sufficed, and continued walking in the opposite direction of the house.

The kids strolled for a while, enjoying the fresh air and new territory upon them. They walked and walked, leaves upon leaves being crushed by the small children's feet until they came across a small clearing devoid of any trees. It was a small, circular clearing in which the ground was raised slightly, and almost perfectly flat, much unlike the rough and uneven surface of the rest of the forest. The kid's rushed into the middle of the clearing. It was only a dozen or so meters across, but the kids and their impressionable young minds instantly started brainstorming ideas of what they could use this spot for. Kris thought a small shack would be cool, but Asriel said it would be far too hard to do. Asriel suggested they make a creepy little symbol, but quickly thought of how rude it would be to creep some poor kids out for no reason. They thought for a little bit, their hands separated, but their bodies still kept within the clearing. Their next ideas synced up almost immediately.

A camping spot!

They could bring their mom out here, set up a tent, build a small fireplace and spend their weekends out here. They would, of course, have to keep the fireplace near the center of the clearing as to reduce the chance of any forest fires, but to the kids, the idea alone seemed so perfect they barely thought of the small details. It was only when Asriel bent down to grab some rocks for the fireplace that he noted the time. It was already twelve thirty? It couldn't have been later than eleven when they left the yard. Had they really spent all that time finding this place, he wondered. He looked over to Kris at the other side of the clearing, who was staring absentmindedly off into the distance. Yelling to him, he explained that they should head back for lunch. Kris nodded and ran to Asriel, grasping his hand tightly in his brother's once again. With that, they set off in the direction they came. Asriel was lucky to have such refined navigation, because they made it back to the house just before it had struck one PM, and they were only half running.

Toriel had whipped up some ham and mayonnaise sandwiches, which the boys happily ate as they told their mother of their findings. They were rather proud of their discovery, as Toriel reckoned they should be. She felt a little pride in her heart, but it was mostly simple happiness from their expedition. Asriel and Kris were about halfway through eating before Asriel had noticed a sullen look upon Kris. Asriel asked what was wrong, and Kris nearly instantly burst into tears of apology. Apparently, he had just noticed that his walkie talkie was gone. Through slurred words and sharp inhalations, he sputtered out that he remembered having it when he left the clearing, but that he must have dropped it somewhere along the way back. He felt terrible for losing his birthday present so quickly, so awful in fact that though Toriel felt a slight urge to scold him, she figured he already felt bad enough about it. Asriel hugged his brother and patted him on the back, saying that they'd find it on their way back into the forest. He said he would use his walkie talkie and yell into it, and on the off chance Kris had left it switched on, they would hear Asriel's own voice and find it. It took a fair bit of consolation, but eventually around two PM, they headed off into the woods once again to find his lost radio. They had four hours, surely they could find it.

The forest was noticeably darker now, the forest's insides drenched in a sort of twilight haze of darkness that made looking for the radio significantly harder. They were brown and black, which meant it could easily blend in with either the darkness or the forest floor. The radio trick was the only thing they had on their side. Asriel would yell into the radio loudly, asking Kris if he had heard it anywhere. Every yell would yield not a single clue to their toy's whereabouts. The darkness approaching didn't help the situation, either. Kris was getting more and more agitated and afraid as the evening went on. It didn't feel like it had taken that long, but before long they were already back at the clearing, and it was already four thirty. Though he didn't want to admit it, he was losing hope. He looked to his side to address Kris, and confront him with the possibility that they might of had to wait until the day after to find it.

Asriel looked to his side and found no one there. Asriel looked in the hand that was supposed to be holding Kris and found it empty. Asriel panicked nearly instantly, looking around the area frantically and calling Kris' name, only to see not a single trace of him, and hear nothing but the rustling of leaves in the wind as a response to his calls. His pupils shrunk, his fur standing on end. He was sure he had a hold of him firmly until now. Or was he? Did he really get so caught up in looking for a toy that he neglected to notice his brother slipping away? Asriel shook as he called out his name, trembling from fear. Not worried about himself, but his brother. He was quiet, too quiet, in fact Asriel couldn't find a memory where he had ever raised his voice. But wouldn't he in this situation, no matter how shy you were? Asriel firmly squeezed the radio in his hand, squeezing down the button on the side that let him transmit his voice, and yelled one last time for Kris to come back.

“A-Azzy?” A shaken voice called out through the radio. A wave of both relief and concern washed over him.  
“Kris! Where did you go? Where are you?!”  
“C-Calm down Azzy... I found my radio, but I'm lost.”  
“Kris... Where did you go? Why didn't you keep my hand held?”  
“I thought I found my radio... A-And I did!”  
“Well where are you, then? We gotta get home quick, before mom grounds us both.”  
“I-I'm not sure...” His voice was trembling. He was incredibly shaken, Asriel could tell even through the static.  
“What direction, Kris? North? West?”  
“I-I think South... Just p-please come get me, it's getting so dark...”  
“South... Okay, I-I'll start heading in that direction right now, just stay where you are, okay?”  
“Okay...”

Asriel ran faster than he ever had, or likely ever would. There was no way he would let his brother stay in the darkness for any longer than he needed to. He was already gone for too long, any additional time is time he would never forgive himself for. His vision got darker slightly. The sun was setting quicker than he had anticipated, and it was already getting to about five o'clock. Time was running out, and night would be upon them soon. Asriel collided into a few trees and scratched his shoulder a bit, but he didn't care at all. He needed to find him. Asriel could just barely stop himself from barrelling onto hard asphalt face first. The light of the road out of Hometown illuminated his surroundings a little bit more, though the only things to see was Hometown a while away in one direction, a road that stretched far into the horizon in the other direction, and the forest directly across from him. Asriel clicked the button on the side of the radio once more.

“Kris. Did you cross the road?”  
“M-Maybe...” The radio replied.  
“Kris... you know mom told us not to go across the road. What's gotten into you?”  
“B-But I didn't go across the road! I-I thought I found my radio!” Kris' voice came clear from behind him. Asriel's eyes widened as he swung his head behind him. There Kris was, shaking and afraid, and without a radio in his hands. Asriel stumbled towards Kris and hugged him tightly.  
“A-Azzy? Who are you talking to?” The radio inquired, the Kris on the other side's voice shaking and quivering. Seeing Kris in the flesh had completely gotten him sidetracked from the fact that there was now two separate instances of Kris. One on the other side of the road, and the one he was hugging.

A wave of nausea overcame Asriel as he realized the predicament he was in. He remembered how exactly the radios worked, and why exactly this made no sense. You needed to be pressing the button on the side in order for it to transmit signals, even if the power for the walkie talkie itself was turned on. And between the time a they left this morning and when they came in for lunch, they hadn't crossed the road out of town, or even seen the road at all, which meant there was no way the radio had been lost or found on the other side.

The thing speaking to him from the radio was not Kris.

Asriel slowly turned back around to the forest on the other side of the road, and saw nothing in the darkness of the trees. But he needed to make sure. He needed to make sure he wasn't just imagining things, that this was happening at all. He pressed the button on the side of the radio, and screamed Kris' name loudly into the device's face. Asriel's own voice, covered in a layer of static but still very much audible, rang out from the other side of the road. He stood there in silence and felt Kris, the real Kris, grasp his hand tightly, tighter than he ever had. Asriel's thumb was still pressed firmly against the radio's button when he heard the last comprehensible thing he ever heard from it that evening come out. The voice that was mimicking Kris began to falter and morph into a much deeper, raspy growl.

“A-Azzy... D-Didn't you s-say that was ch-cheating?”

What came from both the radio and the forest across from them next was a horrifying cacophony of strained, cat like voices mixed with more human sounding howls and banshee-like screeches. All these voices were coming from the same source and all being filtered over a terrible gurgling noise that made the entire demented coir sound like their throats were filled with liquid. Asriel and Kris stood there frozen in fear until they saw trees in the distance being forcibly shaken, and the noise getting closer. It was time to leave. Right then and there.

Asriel and Kris both ran as fast as they could both further into the forest and towards Hometown. The terrible hellish noise behind them didn't get any further away, and though it terrified  
them both to no end not knowing what was chasing them, or what they would endure if they were caught, perhaps that was for the best. Navigating through the trees was a nightmare, especially in such low light and at such a high speed. Though it debatable made it more difficult on the both of them, Asriel didn't let go of Kris' hand for a single moment. He wouldn't dare make the same mistake twice, especially in such terrifying circumstances.

The noise was getting closer and louder by the second, and Asriel thought his life was over before he recognized what was happening. The creature could track them with the radio. It was using the exact tactic he did. He hadn't even noticed his thumb still pressed firmly on the radio's button, and quickly shoved it into the pocket of his jeans. The screaming from the radio ceased, and sound of leaves rustling and screaming soon faded until there was nothing left but the scared and heavy breathing of the kids. Their minds went into overdrive when they saw the lights of their house through the trees, and before long they were through the front door, slamming it shut behind them.

Kris was inconsolable.

It took hours for him to calm down, and when Toriel demanded an explanation, Asriel was quick to cover it up. He explained that Kris had seen something scary in the trees that he thought was a monster in the dark. They got lost for a bit before finding their way back, but they couldn't find Kris' walkie talkie. It took a fair bit of convincing, and promises of lots of extra hot chocolate from the diner tomorrow after church, to even get Kris to a point where he could speak clearly. Asriel counted his blessings when he realized Kris was playing along with him. Asriel promised Kris that whatever he saw in the woods was simply a figment of both of their imaginations. Kris, at the very least, pretended to believe him, but they both knew that Asriel's words meant something completely different to them than they did to Toriel.

Kris slept in his mom's bed that night. And for almost every night after that one, for over a month. She offered the same to Asriel even if he was a bit older, but he declined, saying Kris needed it more than he did. That night Asriel would lay in his bed, staring at the star stickers above him with bloodshot eyes. He very desperately wanted to force this night's memory out of his head. It was only when his mind was at its most sedated that he realized he never took the walkie talkie out of his jeans. His mind was so preoccupied with thinking that he didn't even change into his pyjamas. He took the walkie talkie out of his jeans, and clicked a button on the back, turning the device off as it emitted a soft electrical pop, signalling that the transmission had ended.

Asriel felt his blood freeze cold when he heard a similar pop come from what he assumed was the other walkie talkie. The sound came from directly underneath his bed. Then, the breathing started. The low, gurgling breathing that never left the underside of his bed, keeping Asriel hostage in his own room. He knew he should've taken Toriel's offer, and deeply regretted his decision for every second he heard that terrifying creature's breath. Seconds felt like years as he sobbed as quietly as he could into his blanket, daring not to move a muscle in his body until sunrise. He could feel the warmth of its breath on the sheets below his head. He could feel it's presence. He could feel every atom in his body shaking in fear.

Then, as if God himself had intervened, the breathing ceased in tandem with the sunrise peaking over the horizon. Hoping more than anything that nothing sinister resided underneath his bed, he rested his feet on the floor. Nothing came out from beneath the bed. Shaking slightly, he peeked underneath his bed frame. Nothing. Nothing, of course, except for the other walkie talkie.

Asriel later fell asleep in church, and though his mother resented it, he wouldn't tell her why. The rest of the nights from that point on would go on as normal, but for every night after that one, for about a month or two, he could hear the faint sound of muffled screams coming from the forest outside their house at six o'clock on the dot. Toriel and Kris, however, went about their lives as if they had never heard it. Asriel and Kris never went back to the clearing, and for every trip out of town that they took, they would try their best to keep their eyes away from the forest.

Toriel pushed for answers as to what could've scared them so badly, but in the end, she would get nothing. And after a couple years, she forgot about the entire incident. The walkie talkies were stored in the attic by Asriel himself, and they would remain there forgotten until he left for university. By that point, Toriel had forgotten about the entire event, so when he threw the devices into the trash on the day he left, they weren't missed. Kris became even more distant than he usually was, and though most would rationally think it was because of his brother's departure, they both knew there was more to that problem than one would think. They knew there were things better left unseen, unheard of, and scarcely spoken about.

What they saw among the trees that night was surely one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Pastebin on April 8th of 2019.


End file.
